Orlando, FL: On Thursday, September 20th, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer officially opened the state’s first “green” fire station. The new station, located in the southeast portion of the City, is the only completed fire station in Florida to apply for LEED certification – the national standard set by the U.S. Green Building Council for environmentally-responsible buildings.

“Fire stations are vital to keeping people safe,” said Mayor Dyer. “But, because they are facilities that operate 24 hours a day and utilize pieces of large, energy consuming equipment they’re not always the most environmentally-friendly buildings. What we’ve done here is taken a building that has a giant carbon footprint and dramatically lessened its negative impact on the environment.”

The fire station is 14 percent more energy efficient than a typical building off its kind. It’s estimated that the City will save approximately $8800 dollars per year in energy costs because of the various “green” features of the building. Those features include:

• Use of light concrete pavement greatly reduces the “heat island” effect that normal black asphalt parking lots incur by reflecting, instead of absorbing, heat.

• A” hot water reclamation unit” uses hot gasses off the air conditioning system to generate free hot water.

• The station was built to allow natural daylight into most occupied spaces so little or no electrical lighting is needed during the day.

• A lighting control system utilizes motion sensors to turn lights/equipment off when rooms are empty.

• Reclaimed “graywater” is used for irrigation and landscaping.

• The building “envelope” was designed to be extremely energy efficient. The walls are pre-cast concrete panels which have a higher insulation value than similar wall systems.

• Native landscaping around the fire station requires less water.

The fire station opening served as a kick-off event for the City’s new environmental initiative, “Green Works Orlando.” The “Green Works Orlando” project is a comprehensive plan to protect the City’s natural resources, encourage environmentally-friendly lifestyles and businesses practices and engage everyone who lives, works and visits central Florida in the effort to “go green.”

“It's appropriate that we chose to unveil our green program at a fire station,” added Mayor Dyer. “This will be the spark that ignites a green revolution in Orlando. Our aim is to be one of the most environmentally-conscious cities in the nation.”

The new fire station will be the first of four new LEED certified fire stations that will open this fall in the City of Orlando.

*For more information about the fire station and/or for an electronic copy of the “Green Works Orlando” plan please contact Mayor Dyer’s press office.